Lyre and pedal mechanism for grand pianos



. 1,567,773 w. B. TUNsTALL LYRE AND PEDAL MECHANISMv FOR GRAND PIANOS Filed Jan. 24, 1923 2 sheets-sheet 1 im@ NVLNTOR ||.W\. L,.h :NIM N Vrllllx'lllln lllll f mw,

3 2 7 t 7 e e 7 mm 6 v FOI .mw l um WS m2 o AFl T SWA. N12

N umn. TCa .EJ BMd e wm EF Patented ec. 29,

UNITED SATA-,Tesig WILLIAM B. TUNSTALL, OF VRCSTR, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSGNOR TO SIlVLPIlEX` inseam PLAYER ACTEON COMPANY, OFW-ORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATQN OF MASSACHUSETTS. Y'

LYRE -AND PEDAL MECHANSLI- FOR GRANDPIANOS.

Application mea January 24, .1923. serial Nol 614,600."

To all fic/7mm t may concern; i

Be it known that I, WILLIAM B. TUN-smtp, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the city of lorcester, county of.

lVorcester, and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Lyre and Pedal Mechanism for Grrand Pianos, of which the following yis a specitication.

One object of my invention to provide` a grand piano with a detachable unit in' cluding the pedals so that the unit and peclals may be removed and Vreplaced withoutA adjustments or alterations; a further object is to provide such a unitwhich will not interfere with any player `mechanism that may be used under the keyboard and a third object is to provide a rigid and slightly but partly concealed structure connecting the pedals and piano mechanism. These and other objects are accomplished by my invention, one embodiment of which is hereinafter more particularly set forth.

For a more detailed description of my in-` vention, reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming' a part hereof, in which- Figure 1 is a side elevation of a grand piano provided with my improvement, parts being broken away to reveal the structure.

Figure 2 is a front elevation of the detachable unit.

Figure 3 is a side elevation of this unit.

Throughout the various views of the drawings, similar reference characters des ignate similar parts.

A grand piano 1 may be provided in the conventional way with a player action in a drawer 2, supported under the keyboard in a conventional manner. This piano may be supported by the usual legs 3 in the customary way.

The pedal unit 41 is attached to any suitable part of the frame 5 of this piano by means of angle brackets 6 each of which has an upper web 7, a vertical web 8 and a lower web 9 from which is hung a crossing' 10 with depending legs 1.1 which are united atY their bottom by the usual fulcrum block 12 which is slotted to carry the usual pedals,such asthe sustaining pedal 13, the sostenuto pedal 1-1 and the shifting sedal 15. All these pedals are fulcrnmed in .the usual way and carry at their rear ends the lusual wires 16 through which they function` As the piano mechanism,- for eachv ofthese pedals is the usual mechanism and all .are

connected to the piano mechanism by the novel, identicahbent levers which will now bevdescribed, forconvenience, in Figure 1 only the connection for the sustaining pedal 12v is shown, it being understood that the other pedals are connected in a corresponding manner.

y Each wire 1,6 runs toa bent lever 1.7 which is `fulcrumed at 18 on a barpvthat runs from one bracket 6 to zthe other. Each lever `17 has a horizontal extending arml which'is connected to a wire 16 and an upwardly kextendingarm 2O which is provided with a face 21 near its upper end which engages a corresponding face 22 on an upwardly extending bent lever 23 ful'crumed at 2l: and this fulcrum is secured to the frame 5 of a piano in any suitable way. The bent lever 23 has an upper arm 25 which is connected to the piano mechanism in any suitable way. In the embodiment shown in Figure 1, this arm 25 is shown connected to a dowel 26 which has its end hushed into the parts it connects, its lower end resting in the arm 2 and its upper end connected into the ail 27 which is pivoted in the usual manner and supports the dampers 28 in the conventional manner. The upper ends of these dampers rest on the strings 29 of the piano. i

Other mechanism is connected to theother levers 17 for the sostenuto pedal and the keyboard shifting pedal through suitable bent levers 23, all of which is of the conventional kind and operate in the conventional manner. y

From the foregoing, it is apparent that there are three bent levers 17 and three bent levers 23, each lever 17 having a bent lever 23 cooperating therewith and that the levers 2 3 are pivoted from the piano fra-nie and the levers 17 are pivoted from the unit, to which the pedals are attached. When this unit is placed in position, the surfaces 21 and 22, on the respective bent levers, vrub together in proper relation so that `when the unit is secured to the frame 5, no adjustments are required and there is no lost motion and aor when the unit is removed from the piano, the surfaces 2l and 22 slide apart without interference one with the other. From this ift is apparent that this embodiment of my invention obtains the advantages and objects above set forth.

While I have shown and described one embodiment of my invention, it is obvious that it is not restricted thereto, but that it is broad enough to cover all structures that come within the scope of the annexed claims.

Having thus described my invention, what- I claim is:

Vl. A piano with ya pedal and an action andV means for Vconnecting this Vpedal and this action of the piano consisting of bent levers with interen-gaging parts, one 'of said levers being connected to said pedal Vand one of said levers being connected to said action.

2. A piano with pedals and means for connecting the pedals and piano action enibodying a pair of bent levers and an angle bracket, one of said levers being pivoted to the piano and one to said angle bracket.

3.r A piano provided with a pedal unit, the piano having a depending lever Aand the pedal unit having a bent liever arranged Vto press against the depending 'lever of the piano, the unit being provided with an angle bracket by means of which it may be secured to the piano.

4. A piano with a pedal unit secured thereto, the piano having a depending lever connected to the piano action and the pedal unit having at its to an angle bracket with a bent lever pivote thereto and engaging the depending lever, the bracket being shaped so that when the pedal unit is in place it is koset towards the front of 'the piano and space is made for a drawer containing an action.

5. In a pedal unit for grand pianos, a pair of oiset brackets supporting a lyre, a connecting rod joining said brackets, bent levers fulcrnnied on said rod, said levers operatively connecting the pedals and the piano devices. l

6. In a lyre pedal mechanism for player grand pia-nos, a lyre frame containing pedals and connecting wires, offset brackets from which said lyre frame may be suspended from a piano, bent levers mounted on a common fulcruni carried by said brackets and adapted to engage operating means carried by a piano.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this 20th day of January, 1923.

WILLIAM B. TUN STALL. 

